Cheap & Cheerful Lotion Bars
Ah lotion bars, simple yet enigmatic.
A lotion bar is essentially a solid form of lotion, which makes it easy to transport, and potentially requires less packaging. It is long lasting, filled up with all kinds of good-for-skin ingredients, and is generally considered a more planet friendly product due to its waterless formulation.
Once in contact with wet skin, the lotion bar transforms into lotion that you can rub into your skin.
The only drawback of lotion bars is that you can’t include water-based ingredients. So you can’t make a very fancy lotion bar packed with a range of exciting ingredients, but if you just need a simple, low maintenance lotion that gives your skin the moisture it needs, then lotion bars are your friend.
Now, there are many, many ways to make lotion bars. You could use butters, or waxes, or fatty acids and alcohols, and there are many variations of each of these; or you could even use a combination of everything.
I decided to try make the most cost effective version of a lotion bar. Since skin butters are fairly pricey, I decided to use an isolated component of butters, instead of butters themselves: a fatty acid called stearic acid.
I also included a fatty alcohol, plus an emulsifier. The emulsifier is included so that when the lotion bar is applied to wet skin it turns into lotion. It’s really what makes a lotion bar a lotion bar and not just a solid body butter bar or a massage bar.
I had some OliveM 1000 on hand so I just used that (plus it’s just a really nice emulsifier), but you could use any O/W emulsifier. If you want to keep costs down, try Eco E wax which is exceptional value for money.
These three solid ingredients provide structure and hardness to the bar, as well as benefits to the skin.
For the oil part you could use any oil of choice. I prefer lighter oils such as sunflower, jojoba, or even squalane or hemisqualane. You could also give your lotion bar some X factor with an infused oil such as calendula, or make your own macerated oil.
I rounded the formula off with some Vitamin E oil for its antioxidant and skin properties.
Cheap & Cheerful Lotion Bar
20% stearic acid
20% cetyl alcohol
15% OliveM 1000 or another emulsifier of choice
44.5% dry oil such as hemisqualane (a silicone alternative), or sunflower, safflower, etc
0.5% Vit E oil
Mold of choice
Weigh and add all the ingredients to a beaker. Heat until everything is completely melted. Then pour into a mold and allow to set.
Use after showering, on wet skin. Rub the bar over your wet skin, then rub the lotion in.
Variations and Substitutions
You could theoretically use cetostearyl alcohol instead of stearic acid and cetyl alcohol, so if you don’t have those two on hand, try cetostearyl.
You could add in some essential oil.
Feel free to include oil-soluble actives such as Vitamin A, or oil soluble Vitamin C, Co-enzyme Q10, bisabolol, etc. You will need to make room for them in the formula by taking from the oil amount.
You could use any other O/W emulsifier of choice. It may yield subtle changes to the formula but feel free to experiment!
If you live in a very hot climate and melting might be a potential issue, then try increasing the amount of solids (ie. the stearic acid, cetyl alcohol and emulsifier) by a few percent each to make a harder bar that can withstand more heat. Alternatively, store the bar in a cool cupboard.
